WHEN The Wanted reunited shortly before the tragic death of bandmate Tom Parker, it was hoped the band’s long-running feud had finally come to an end.
But instead of bringing them closer together, the brief reconciliation in 2021 did nothing to mend the secret divide – and now Nathan Sykes has spoken for the first time about the breakdown of the group’s friendships.
The Wanted – made up of Nathan, Tom, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran and Jay McGuiness – catapulted to fame in 2009 and became a platinum-selling group with hit songs including Glad You Came and All Time Low.
They split five years later, claiming at the time they were pausing to pursue solo careers. However, Max later confirmed simmering tension behind the scenes drove them apart – and they were no longer on speaking terms.
Speaking to The Sun, Nathan now says he’s in therapy to process his time in the band, admitting: “Looking back can be really happy, but it can be challenging as well.”
He has ruled out ever reuniting with The Wanted again – while Max and Siva have reformed as a duo to perform all over the world as The Wanted 2.0.
In a shock blow to fans, Nathan and Max unfollowed each other on Instagram, cutting off communication. Siva and Max were also missing from Nathan’s wedding to his girlfriend of six years, Charlotte Burke, in October.
Opening up about the struggles in the band, Nathan told us: “I think being content in where you are at in life and accepting things because they’ve happened and then navigating through them, that’s part of growing up and acknowledging things.
“Look, everyone goes through difficult times and everyone has challenging experiences.
“I feel very lucky, very fortunate that I got to do the most amazing things with the band and I have the most amazing memories.
“If there were difficulties within that, then that’s something that I need to kind of process.”
With any job, you form some relationships that are better than others
Nathan Sykes
Nathan still maintains a close friendship with Jay after the pair formed a bond in the band – something that he admits he didn’t have with the older members.
Nathan, who was just 16 when he joined The Wanted, was five years younger than Max and Tom. Siva was 20, while Jay was closest in age at 19.
He says being a teenager who was home-schooled while the others partied was part of the problem in how their relationship played out.
“I’ve got an amazing relationship with Jay,” he says.
“He was at my wedding a few weeks back. There’s a lot of love there.
“But with any job, you form some relationships that are better than others.
“I think with being the youngest, I naturally gravitated towards the person that was closest in age, which was Jay, who is three years older than me.
“With the older guys, especially when we started, I was 16 and the other three were 21, so there was always a difficulty in forming those bonds.”
Nathan added: “Bless them. Looking back, I really feel for them because they were like, ‘What are we meant to do with this child?’
“They could all go out, socialise, get to know each other, go sit in the pub, have a pint and find out about each other’s lives.
“I was back at the hotel where we were staying doing homework, so that’s always going to be difficult to figure out relationships.
“Then by the time the band ended, I was the same age that they were when it started. They were so far ahead of me in terms of life experience.”
However, Nathan insists that there’s no bad blood from his side and even claimed to be unaware of the social media snub.
An olive branch
In fact, the 32-year-old denied any fallout between him, Max and Siva – despite admitting they don’t talk.
“As far as I’m aware, there’s no problems at all. Genuinely, it’d be news to me.
“I can confirm that I haven’t unfollowed anyone. So I don’t know if there’s been a mistake somewhere, but I definitely haven’t unfollowed anyone.
“If I’m honest, I’m so bad with technology, I wouldn’t know how to.”
Offering an olive branch to his former bandmates, Nathan insisted: “If anyone rang me tomorrow and said, ‘I need a favour’, I think all of us would just be on the end of the phone.”
Before Tom’s death, The Wanted reunited for a greatest hits album and one-off show in 2021, followed by a tour in early 2022.
Reflecting on that time, Nathan added: “The reunion tour that we did, and the celebration of everything we achieved, was really important because we all got to see each other as adults for the first time.
“It was a really healing experience.
“And especially having that time with Tom. I wouldn’t swap that time for anything.”
Max suffered his own health struggles lately after doctors discovered a heart block, but after two surgeries he’s back performing.
He’s set to reunite with Siva for Mighty Hoopla in May 2026 after wrapping up their American tour last month.
Meanwhile Nathan, who was recently diagnosed with autism, is now focusing on his solo career, having released new album Ultraviolet last month.
It is his second solo album and follows his 2016 debut, Unfinished Business.
Nathan said: “I formed a really safe space within the writing group for my new album and I think that allowed me to be vulnerable with my writing and in my music.
“I’ve prioritised my safe space and my happy place, shall we say, and I think it’s really, really important to get to that place.
“Therapy definitely helps. I think it’s a really healthy thing.”
When he’s not in the studio or performing on stage, Nathan is happiest at home with his new wife Charlotte and their dog, Willow.
The animal lover became an ambassador for Dogs Trust, inspired by his 13-year-old Dalmatian.
Nathan said: “I get overwhelmed in social situations so having a best friend in Willow means the world to me.
“She’s at an age now where she’s definitely qualified for a bus pass, she’s a little old lady and she’s absolutely precious. She brings us so much joy and is the centre of our world.
“Willow even helped us to unwrap our wedding presents because she gets so much joy out of unwrapping presents. That’s her happy place.”
Despite Nathan’s assurances there’s not a problem between him, Max and Siva, it’s clear there is friendship is non-existent, and with any chance of a reunion ruled out, the possibility of them being involved in each other’s lives seems over.
However, as Nathan says: “I’m always at the other end of the phone.” Let’s hope the boys have a change of heart and choose to make that call.